Angel Figurine

Angle Figurine, originally uploaded by Grant Simpson Photo.

This one was an adventure. Returning to my table top days, this was the kind of shot that was my bread and butter. Not the most exciting shot, but I wanted to see if I could still pull it off. Shot on a white background (posterboard swept up) then knocked out with Photoshop and placed on a very slightly gray background. Boy do I need to upgrade my Photoshop program and skills! Smoothing out the edges was a complete pain in the ass.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the photography. It's as good as anything I shot back at the studio for which I worked in Chicago. Of course, there I had all the professional gear at my finger tips that anyone could want; here, I had to completely improvise. All the old tricks came back to me like riding a bike, which was really nice. After all, it's been eleven years since I did anything like this.

So, I take Riley to a birthday party today at Playland Skate Center. I hadn't been to a skating rink in years, and I'd forgotten about the one cardinal rule of skate rinks: NO GUM ALLOWED. NONE.

So Playland has this jar at the door. Wow. 

I wonder how many years of gum are in that jar. Does someone empty it? What kind of a biohazard has been incubating in this thing? *Shudder*

Gallows at Emo's, SXSW '09

Gallows at Emo's, SXSW '09, originally uploaded by Grant Simpson Photo.

This is a shot from the Gallows show at Emo's during SXSW '09. They are a hardcore punk band from Ireland. Fantastic energy and great music - they are the real deal. Frank, the singer, is by trade a tattoo artist. He was off the stage and in the crowd within the first few measures of the first song. Awesome show.

I'm finally able to go back to the photos I took for SXSWORLD magazine during SXSW '09. It was an intense day and a half, and I hadn't done an assignment like that in years. It was fun, but I just couldn't do anything with these until I'd had some distance from them.

I learned a lot about shooting live shows. If it's crowded, I have to get there early, get right up front, and stay there if I can. Build rapport with the other photographers up front so I can get back into position if I have to step away, like I did for this shot. Try not to use the flash too much if possible. Emo's is pretty dark, so I didn't have much choice but to use it quite a bit. Also, if the stage is tall, I'm going to have trouble - I'm only 5' 4" tall. All in all, I enjoyed it but don't know if I'd shoot live music as a vocation.

Iron Horse

Iron Horse, originally uploaded by Grant Simpson Photo.

I got inspired by assisting on a shoot with Steve DeMent recently, where I saw him use his accessory flash on a light stand and shoot it through a white umbrella. I thought, you know, I don't have a wireless remote for the flash I have, but I've got a tether to take the flash off the camera and an old white translucent drum head. That's the same principle as the head-and-screen set up I used for most of my professional work back in the day. Time to go to bed rolled around, and what happened? I got out the camera and spent the next few hours playing photo-MacGuyver. In a way, I got to combine my passion for percussion (drum head as light screen) and photography to make this shot. I love that stuff!

Ah, it's Malaysia

Ah, it's Malaysia, originally uploaded by SE_RAustin.

Malaysian GP. I've just learned of the concept of Chicken Fried Bacon.
Dipped in cream gravy. I need to go to Snook, TX. Oh, God.

-Grant

Can you believe this?

Can you believe this?, originally uploaded by SE_RAustin.

Circumstances have conspired so that I have now had coffee in the
morning and now lunch at two different Starbucks in one day. All
because of kitchen angst.

At least the coffee is better than this morning and the bagel is
fantastic.

-Grant

Because I just couldn't face the kitchen

Because I just couldn't face the kitchen, originally uploaded by SE_RAustin.

I have been cooking at home a lot lately, which is a healthy,

economical and fun thing. But damn. Cleaning sucks. It's mainly that

we have very little counter space, so if I get going on a big dish I

run out of sink and counter space and have to load the dishwasher in

the middle of everything and yeah, I know, that's kind of de rigeur.

Doesn't mean that after a week or two I've not had enough! This

morning I had enough.

Mainly, it's making coffee. The one thing I need before I can do

anything is one of the biggest pains to make. Some of it is self

inflicted - I insist on grinding my own beans - but a big part of the

hassle is the lack of counter space. I pull the machine from under the

cabinet which holds the coffee accoutrement and turn it sideways. Then

I open the cabinet door above the coffee maker to get the beans and

the grinder. THEN I can open the top of the coffee maker. If I don't

do it in this order, there ensues this atonal choreography of door and

lid openings and closings that would impress and/or annoy any modern

dance enthusiast. And it just plain pissed me off. So, precision and

order are the key.

Pull, spin, open, lift, dump, rinse, rinse, rinse, place, remove,

open, scoop (x3), grind, dump, fill, close, close, spin, push, and,

finally, push. Wait three minutes and then I can pour a cup of coffee.

And people wonder why it's worth it to spend $2.00 on a cup of coffee

at Starbucks. There's my answer.

-Grant